School Funding, Health Care Stall Budget Negotiations

TALLAHASSEE - — Despite promises to end "business as usual," the Florida Legislature finds itself in a familiar position - haggling over dollars and heading into overtime.

Negotiations over the $39 billion state budget proposal hit a brick wall on Tuesday. The Senate battled for more money for South Florida schools, while House members fought to spread the wealth among all 67 counties.

The two chambers also were polarized on the urgency of providing subsidized health coverage for some of Florida's 2.7 million uninsured working poor and their families.

The full House may vote to pass a health care program today, but Senate President Jim Scott, R-Fort Lauderdale, said "it won't [be heard in the Senate]. It's not our issue."

Gov. Lawton Chiles, meanwhile, was threatening to bring lawmakers back soon for a special session to address health care reform.

In short, despite all the pre-session promises of change, this session is ending the way most recent ones have - in a rancorous fight over the budget, and all but certain to spill into overtime.

Legislators are scheduled to end their 60-day session at midnight on Friday - but it now looks as though work on budget-related issues will continue into next week.

"We don't need to stampede through what remains [to be decided] on the budget," said House Speaker Peter Wallace, D-St. Petersburg. "[The Senate] somehow expects us to give and give and give."

An overtime extension will cost taxpayers an extra $20,000 to $40,000 a day, according to legislative staff. Work on non-budget issues will end on Friday night, legislative leaders said.

Scott still was talking Tuesday as if on-time adjournment was possible.

"All good things must end," he said. "This session must end. Hopefully soon. And almost on time."

Yet an on-time adjournment is now impossible: the state Constitution requires that a budget be finished 72 hours before it is voted on, to allow legislators and the public to understand it before it is enacted.

The biggest point of budget contention remains school funding.

Scott was angered on Tuesday by House attempts to slash spending on programs for non-English speaking students - a major budget issue for Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

"We don't know if [the House] did this on purpose or not," Scott said. "This is going from bad to worse. I'm sure the House won't want to do this when they think about it."

Scott already has won one major school-budget fight - saving a cost-of-living adjustment that gives extra money to urban school districts. But South Florida educators remained angry at House members for pushing programs that would reduce Dade and Broward's school money. "The issue is that there just isn't enough money, so they're fighting over crumbs," said Georgia Slack, the Broward School Board's lobbyist.